Delaney Smith: In My Back Pocket

delaney smith

in my back pocket

may 19 - june 28, 2016



in my back pocket



artist statement

The body of work created for In My Back Pocket took root during long
commutes from Houston to The Woodlands, where I taught art classes at
Lone Star College-Montgomery. During those long drives, I began to notice how
loads were carried on the beds of trucks. The method of organizing and securing
materials to serve a function was not lost on me. I started to see the loads as metaphors
for the way we carry theories, goals, preconceptions, and expectations through life…
Is it heavy, a burden? Is it rich and soft, and do the straps we use to secure it sink
deep into the load? How long will we carry the load – the whole journey, or can
we let it go at some point along the way? These are questions I asked as I translated
materials I have accumulated over the years into the collection of sculptures that make up
In My Back Pocket.

My background is in paper and bookmaking, and for a few years I made soft furnishings
and curtains as a seamstress. The materials in these artworks include handmade paper,
deteriorating curtains, sewing notions, fabric scraps – all accumulated from personal
experiences and events. ‘In my back pocket’ is trucker lingo for a place you have
passed, a place that is behind you, which points to these significant materials.

The steel supports emerged from scraps I found in my studio neighbor’s welding shop.
I allowed the quality of the materials to lead the way and focused on the design
elements of weight and texture. Each load has its own relationship to gravity and its steel
support. The titles are borrowed from trucker terms and phrases, which lend themselves
to either a literal interpretation (Toothpicks) or reference an action (Hammer Down).
The viewer is invited to develop their own interpretation of the composition before them,
how the materials compare and contrast, and how the ‘loads’ relate to each other in
the gallery space. Delaney Smith, 2016

1



Wagon
2016

Cyanotype fabric, cotton, steel
5.5 x 6.5 x 3.5 inches

3



West Coast Turnaround
2016

Cotton, nylon, wax paper, steel
31 x 23 x 16 inches

5



Split
2016
Handmade paper, cotton, steel
24 x 11 x 5 inches

7



Triple Digits
2016

Interlining, cotton, steel
4 x 30 x 31 inches

9



Come Back, Come On
2016

Handmade paper, steel, aluminum
32 x 19 x 4 inches

11



Ground Pressure
2016

Cotton, steel, nylon
46 x 9 x 5 inches

13



Walked on You
2016

Handmade paper, nylon, steel
34 x 14 x 5 inches

15



Hammer Lane
2016

Blue board, plastic, cotton, aluminum, rubber, steel
40 x 10 x 4 inches

17



Ratchet Jaw
2016

Interfacing, batting, nylon, steel
14.5 x 54 x 4 inches

19



Shutter Trouble
2016

Receipts, nylon, steel
15 x 14 x 3 inches

21



Through the Woods
2016

Cotton, nylon, steel
22 x 44 x 5 inches

23



In the Big Hole
2016

Denim cotton, nylon, steel
18 x 6 x 3.5 inches

25



Front Door
2016

Cast recycled cotton pulp, cotton, steel
22 x 14 x 8 inches

27



Toothpicks
2016

Cotton, nylon, acrylic, batting, steel
24 x 48 x 6 inches

29



Back It Down
2016

Steel, cotton, nylon, acrylic
73 x 60 x 26 inches

31



Greasy Side Up
2016

Cast naturally dyed pulp, steel, plastic
26 x 19 x 4 inches

33

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biography

Delaney Smith is a visual artist working primarily with paper and
bookmaking to create sculptures and interactive books. With a
focus on aligning process and inherent qualities of material, she
explores the ideas of accumulation and transformation through
repetition. The books she creates are interactive, developing as
the viewer alters the pages, creating a unique story of marks
and questioning expectations of how one should approach
a book.
Smith received a BFA in Graphic Communications from the University of Southern
Mississippi in 2007 and a MFA in Fibers from the University of North Texas in 2013.
Her work is in the permanent collection at Texas Women’s State University, and she is
a featured artist at Hunter Gather Project in Houston, TX. Smith was an artist-in-residence
at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft from September 2013-August 2014.
In early 2015, she participated in Pentaculum, a week-long forum at Arrowmont
School of Arts and Crafts. She is currently working as an artist and educator in
Houston, TX.

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LSC-Kingwood Fine Art Gallery
20000 Kingwood Drive

Kingwood, TX 77339-3801
Phone 281.312.1534
LoneStar.edu/Kingwood

Affirmative Action/EEO College